Bird feeders conventionally employ a plurality of sidewalls formed of wood or glass and defining an interior storage compartment for feed. At least some of the side-walls are normally tapered inwardly to assist the feed in being discharged downwardly onto a feed table in accordance with the rate at which the feed is consumed. These known feeders are conventionally of a rigid structure and hence, if preassembled, are thus of substantial size so that transporting and handling of the feeders is difficult. To avoid this disadvantage, many feeders are sold in kit or disassembled form, whereby the purchaser assembles the bird feeder prior to use thereof. This is also undesirable since many purchasers would prefer to avoid this task.
Another disadvantage of known bird feeders in the difficulty encountered in filling the interior storage compartment with feed. With many feeders, it is necessary to remove the top of the feeder, and this is difficult in those instances where the feeder is suspended from above, as by a chain.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved bird feeder which overcomes many of the disadvantages experienced with previously known feeders. More specifically, it is an object of this invention to provide an improved feeder, as aforesaid, which is of telescopic construction so that it can be fully assembled and yet collapse into a small and compact structure to facilitate shipping and handling thereof, while at the same time not requiring any assembly or manipulative operations by the purchaser inasmuch as the feeder will automatically extend into a fully operational position when suspended.
A further object is to provide an improved feeder, as aforesaid, which includes a removable top plug which functions both as a decorative part of the feeder and as a cover, which plug can be easily removed to facilitate filling of the feeder.
Still a further object is to provide an improved feeder, as aforesaid, which has a decorative and ornamental appearance so as to be aesthetically desirable when positioned in the vicinity of a residence, which permits simplified feeding on all sides thereof to thereby enable it to be supported in any desired location, and which readily visually indicates when refilling of the feeder is desired.
In addition to the above objects, the feeder of this invention can also be efficiently and economically produced, and is particularly desirable for distribution through commercial establishments due to its capability of being telescoped into a flat and compact package, even though the feeder remains fully assembled.
Other objects and purposes will be apparent to persons familiar with structures of this type upon reading the following specification and inspecting the accompanying drawings.